A libertarian president in Argentina?

Self-described libertarian Javier Milei surprised the world in Argentina's presidential open primary election last week by finishing first with 30 percent of the vote ahead of candidates for the country's dominant left- and right-wing parties.

Milei, the figurehead for La Libertad Avanza party is an Austrian economist and has called himself an anarchocapitalist and made a name for his fiery media appearances excoriating Argentina's "political caste" of "parasites." He's pledged to end the Argentina's central bank and dollarize the economy, privatize its social services, cut taxes, create education vouchers and abolish the health, education and environmental ministries. His opponents and many in the media have repeatedly described him as "far right" and "a new Trump." Latin American political analyst Daniel Raisbeck, on the other hand, paints a more nuanced picture and warns pundits not to "confuse Javier Milei with Jair Bolsanaro."

Join Reason's Zach Weissmueller this Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a conversation with author and radio and TV host Gloria Alvarez and Argentine economist Eduardo Marty to discuss the election, Milei's chances of victory in a country experiencing triple digit inflation, the culture war he's fighting in Argentina, and what his rise says for the prospects of libertarian ideas in Latin America.

Watch the stream on Reason's YouTube channel or on Facebook.

Sources referenced in this conversation:

Argentina 2023 Primary Results: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-argentina-election/

WaPo: Who is Javier Milei, Argentina's right-wing presidential front-runner? https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/14/javier-milei-argentina-presidential-election/

Opina Argentina: Libertarians make inroads in Argentina—https://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=462085029&subtopic_1

Milei: My alignment with Trump and Bolsonaro is almost natural—https://www.infobae.com/politica/2021/09/29/la-entrevista-de-javier-milei-a-la-prensa-de-brasil-mi-alineamiento-con-bolsonaro-y-trump-es-casi-natural/

Bloomberg: Milei's proposals for Argentina—https://www.infobae.com/politica/2021/09/29/la-entrevista-de-javier-milei-a-la-prensa-de-brasil-mi-alineamiento-con-bolsonaro-y-trump-es-casi-natural/

El Pais: What's in Javier Milei's head? https://elpais.com/argentina/2023-08-15/que-tiene-javier-milei-en-la-cabeza.html

Daniel Raisbeck: Argentina should dollarize pronto—https://www.cato.org/briefing-paper/argentina-should-dollarize-pronto